Hullabaloo

Monday, December 14, 2009

 
Anything

by digby

Last Friday I wrote a post featuring this exchange:

Republican strategist John Feehery: He'll sign anything that the congress comes up with on health care. Anything. He's never used the veto word.

Matthews: Anything?

Feehery: Anything.

Matthews: Why would he do that?

Feehery: Because he wants any kind of accomplishment on health care. On that he has absolutely no ideological bearing whatsoever. He'll sign anything.

The problem is the Democratic Congress can't get anything done because they're incompetent.

Well ...

The White House is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and eliminate the proposed Medicare expansion in the health reform bill, according to an official close to the negotiations.

But Reid is described as so frustrated with Lieberman that he is not ready to sacrifice a key element of the health care bill, and first wants to see the Congressional Budget Office cost analysis of the Medicare buy-in. The analysis is expected early this week.

"There is a weariness and a lot of frustration that one person is holding up the will of 59 others," the official said. “There is still too much anger and confusion at one particular senator’s reversal.”

Lieberman threw health care reform into doubt Sunday when he told Reid that he would filibuster the bill if it allowed Americans ages 55 to 64 to purchase coverage in Medicare. His comments on CBS’s “Face the Nation” set off a series of private meetings Sunday between the Senate leadership and top White House aides, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who encouraged Reid to cut the deal with Lieberman, the official said. The White House declined to comment.

Sign anything? Check.
Incompetent Democrats? Check.

If this happens, we'll have a Republican bill that won't work, which no Republicans will vote for and which they will run against for the next decade at least.

It's Newtie's wet dream.


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digby 12/14/2009 11:00:00 AM |